Blurb: Left for dead by the leaders of his homeworld for
being flawed, Ris Feral’s life takes a sharp turn when he’s picked up and
trained by the Intergalactic Garuda Empire to pilot the Catapult, the galaxy’s
deadliest thinking war machine. But wreaking havoc, fighting someone else’s
wars, and doing all he’d been told, no questions asked, made for one empty and
lonely existence.

Fortunately, Ris has always known the Catapult had been
designed for two pilots, not one. When the ship noticeably reacts to a spy from
an enemy planet, Ris knows the man posing as Inspector Caru Killas is his fated
mate and his missing half. Disobeying orders, being the most wanted man in the
empire, and risking his life is the easy bit. Can Ris convince Caru to
surrender his heart and allegiance to him, and mount the Catapult?

STORY EXCERPT

“You’re playing with fire, Caru,” Ris warned, tongue
flicking downwards again to the mark he made.

Each lick of Caru’s hot flesh further imprinted the Nixan’s
scent and taste on him. It was maddening, knowing how he’d marked and claimed
Caru as his according to Howler customs, of the people who’d abandoned him and
his other foster brothers. Still, he couldn’t just feel the intense psychic
connection he’d formed with Caru. Ris could also taste it, and it tasted sweet
and dizzyingly addictive.

Even though Caru didn’t know it, every other Howler in the
vicinity would know he was taken.

“I know what I’m asking for, Ris. I’ve heard how Howlers
like it rough.” There was a note of fear in Caru’s voice, fear unmistakably
colored with excitement.

“Not just Howlers. Apparently a certain Nixan spy likes the
way we Howlers fuck too.”

Caru’s eyes suddenly grew alert and his entire body tensed,
but before his mate could flee Ris caught his hands again. Shit. Did he really
just say spy?

“You knew?” Caru whispered, his voice gaining heat. “You
knew I was a spy, and you still hit on me and invited me out here? Is this some
kind of sick game to you, Ris?”

“I don’t play games.” Ris’s harsh words came out as an
impatient growl, nearly making Caru jump up with surprise. He could feel the
change in the air, the sudden spike in Caru’s heartbeat and the quickening of
his breathing. The last thing he wanted was to frighten and make the Nixan hate
him. Ris took in a deep breath, trying to put a leash on his rising anger.

“You’re hurting me,” Caru whispered.

Ris looked down at his large hands, and realizing he was
gripping the other’s man’s wrists tight enough to leave bruises. He let go of
Caru.

The Nixan fearfully scrambled away from his lap, landing
with a painful thud on the floor. Ris watched Carus’s head wildly swerve around
the tiny cabin, probably in search of weapons, but he’d find none. The whole
ship itself was a deadly and thinking weapon and would act on instinct if there
was a hostile threat on board the craft.

The warning lights flickering on the console in front of Ris
conveyed to him the Catapult’s displeasure. The ship was practically telling
him to sort out the situation. Was it reacting to Caru’s fear?

The Nixan would’ve said it was ridiculous. A ship with an
independently thinking AI was one thing, but one capable of feeling human
emotions was an impossibility.

“Caru, if I really wanted you dead, I’d have shoved a plasma
gun right at your head the moment I knew you were a spy.” Ris watched the other
man process those words.

Caru stopped looking for possible escape routes and settled
for glaring at him. The Nixan had probably realized he had no way of escaping
in deep space.

“If you’re intending to seduce me and then milk me for
information, then think again.”

Ris stood from the pilot’s seat, crossing his arms. Caru
crawled away from him on the floor, only stopping when his back hit the wall.

“Aren’t you going to pelt me with lame explanations?” Caru
finally demanded at his silence.

“Only one explanation matters. See the mark on your neck?
It’s a Howler mating mark. Do you know what that is?”

“You’re lying. Isn’t a Howler mating mark permanent? Hell,
isn’t it even more binding than any legal document in the galaxy? Oh Gods, is
it true males can get pregnant after being bitten by a Howler?”

“Oh, it’s more than any legal document, Caru. I’ve just
claimed you for life.” Ris took a breath to calm his nerves. “But you can’t
really claim the unwilling can’t you? Some part of you knew I was your fated
mate, Caru. Just like how I knew instantly you were meant to be mine.”

At Caru’s stunned silence, Ris continued. He had to let out
the entire truth if he intended to build any sort of relationship with Caru.
“As for your other question, yes. A Howler’s bite can modify and restructure
the body of his mate, but they have to mate a few times for the seed to catch.”

“It can’t be,” Caru whispered. “Stop fucking lying to me.”

“I’ve never once lied to you, Caru, but you’ve lied to me at
every turn. You’ve lied about your intentions and about who you really are.”

Ris watched the other man chew on his words for a moment
before continuing. “My superiors and their cybernaticists and scientists don’t
know everything about the Catapult. It’s basically stolen technology from a
dead civilization long gone.”

“W-why are you telling me all this?” Caru asked uncertainly,
his initial anger giving way to confusion.

“Because I want you to understand, this ship wasn’t meant to
be operated by just a single pilot, but by two. You’re the Catapult’s second
rider, Caru, whether you like it or not.”

Pregnant silence followed. He could almost hear the wheels
of the Nixan’s brains turning.

“Either you’re one hell of a liar, or you’re telling the
truth.” Caru looked away from his gaze. “But you’re right. I’ve been trying to
deceive everyone, including myself about what I was feeling towards all this.”

When Ris approached and knelt down at Caru’s eye level, the
Nixan didn’t run. He lifted Caru’s chin, forcing the other man to look back at
him.

“I know it’s a lot to take in right now, Caru. I imagine it
must be difficult for you to tell the truths from the lies coming from an
enemy, but you can trust one thing though. The only thing that’s real.”

“Oh yeah?” Caru challenged, familiar fire back in his gaze.

“Us. This heat between us.” Ris watched Caru’s eyes drop
from his face to his body. “Am I wrong?”

Caru swallowed, and Ris could feel all the Nixan’s
frustrations, anger, and confusion giving way to his baser and simpler
emotions.

“No, you’re not wrong, Ris.” Then Caru surprised the hell
out of him by locking his lips with Ris’s.

ADULT EXCERPT

“I can’t hear you, Caru.”

“On the floor. I want you to take me on all fours.” By then,
Caru’s entire face was red. Ris stood, unhooking him from the safety bar

“On all fours then, and you better thrust your little bottom
at me.”

Ris watched the other man scramble on all fours, his hands
still bound and dangling in front of him.

Ris then retrieved the lube in one of the pockets of his
clothes. He’d been anticipating this and he had a feeling Caru had too. Ris
wouldn’t be surprised if the Nixan shyly kept a lube handy in his clothes as
well.

He began to palm the smooth, unmarked flesh of one of Caru’s
globes thoughtfully. “You’d look good with some stripes on you, Caru.”

“I’m not into that kind of thing.”

Ris mutely answered him by delivering a loud and resounding
smack on his left cheek. Caru shrieked, but Ris could tell by his squirming
body he damn well liked it. “Liar. Didn’t I tell you never to lie to me again?”
Ris delivered another swat and another until Caru groaned.

His hand began to grow heavy by the time they began the
second set, but it was worth it hearing all the groans and pleas from his mate.

“That’s it, Caru. Let everything out. It’s just the two of
us out here. There aren’t any eyes watching.”

Ris felt frustrations slowly ebb away from the other man’s
body. By his tiny reactions, he knew Caru was beginning to loosen and truly
surrender his control to Ris. It was exquisite seeing the other man slowly
being undone under his hands.

Ris might not know what it was like losing his planet to
another overseer. To him, being under the leash of one empire was the same as
being under the next one, but Caru must’ve felt strongly about it enough to
risk his life. It was too much of a burden on anyone, and if Ris had enough
power, he’d make sure Caru didn’t have to worry about the fate of his entire
planet anymore. He’d just have to worry about pleasing Ris. By the time the
second set was finished, Caru was practically thrusting his welted ass at Ris.

“Do you have something to say to me, Caru?”

“Thank you, Ris.” Caru’s soft voice made him aware of his
rock-hard cock. Ris trailed back to Caru’s waiting slit, immensely liking the
sound of his mate’s whimper.

Caru had ceased fighting Ris, and his willing submission
made everything much sweeter. He seemed more relax and subdued now, more
willing and open to Ris’s attentions.

“Good boy.”

Caru seemed to sigh at his praise. Ris applied lube to his
fingers and circled Caru’s waiting hole leisurely until the other man began to
grow discomforted and needy against his teasing.

Ris applied more lube into Caru’s waiting hole and nudged a
second finger in. His noisy mate squirmed on his lap, eager for him. Ris
scissored his way in and began to prepare Caru for his access.

“How do you want me to take you, Caru? Should I take you on
all fours, like horny little sluts like you should be taken? Or do you prefer I
push you on the ground and make you offer your ass to me?”

By the time Ris finished speaking, Caru’s face was burning
bright red. Familiar defiance colored his features, but what little defiance
Caru ignited died away as Ris inserted a third finger in.

“I-I want to see your face while you fuck me. After that.”
Caru’s face was still pink. Ris guided him back to sit on his lap, and tilted
his chin up.

“After?”

“Gods of the galaxy, Ris. You’re demanding,” Caru hissed
furiously. He yelped when Ris administered another sharp swat to his marked
bottom.

Ris leaned in close to whisper in Caru’s ear. “Is your
little act of defiance turning you on, Nixan? Because if it is, we can continue
playing this game. I can torment you all day.”

Ris bit hard on Caru’s earlobe, aware the other man’s cock
was thickening against his belly. His mate’s leaking and needy prick needed
tending, but Ris was going to have his pleasure first.

“No. I can’t. I want.” Caru breathed hard against him.
“After you can fuck me in any position you want.”

“Good.” Ris easily hefted the Nixan in his arms and carried
him back to the pilot’s seat. “Let’s do comfy first, then hard and dirty.”

Caru gulped, but didn’t resist. He let Ris arrange him on
the seat and spread open his legs. Ris applied more lube and, holding Caru’s
legs firmly in his arms, began to nudge a few inches of his prick in.

“Gods, Ris. You’re so huge. I’m not sure if you can fit,”
Caru whispered, gripping the hand rests of the seat.